


Leaky Breaks

by Pil



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Car Accidents, Eventual Romance, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Sad, Skank Kurt Hummel, Skank Quinn Fabray, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-22
Packaged: 2018-10-30 04:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10869432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pil/pseuds/Pil
Summary: Kurt Hummel found himself barely skating by where his happiness was concerned. At school he was being shoved into lockers and called a homo every day and at home he always came home to his lovely father, Burt, his stepmom, Carole, and his more than irritating stepbrother, Finn. When his Burt getting into a car accident causes Kurt to hit rock bottom, who will be there to pick him up?





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5/24/17: I kind of reworked this chapter because oh god there were so many grammatical errors and I thought I could've written it a bit better. There really isn't any new information, but I feel like the chapter flows better than it did before and I fixed all the mistakes that were in it. I originally wanted to write this in 1st person, but changed my mind so dialogue would say "he" at times instead of "I" because I did the whole find and replace things then read it over at 2 in the morning without thinking that it probably wasn't the best time to post this after skimming it for errors since my brain was half asleep. Thank you to the people who have left comments and given this work Kudos. I will not edit anymore when my brain is half asleep. I hope you enjoy. And I don't have a consistent upload time for chapters. If I'm feeling it I'm feeling it. It'll be pretty frequent though since I do online school and have a LOT of time to kill. Please leave any feedback in the comments or if you want to see any specific scenes. I do have a lose plot of this, but I want to write little fluff chapters when it feels like it'll flow well with the story so I'm all ears. Thanks again :)

 

He's been sitting here for an hour and still nothing. He hasn't even been acknowledged. They aren’t letting Kurt see him. At least not until he’s out of the surgery. _If_ he gets out of surgery. If he’s alive.

“He’s gonna be alright, Sweetheart. You know that, right?”

The last thing Kurt wants is false hope. He’ll start to believe what other people are preaching about how great the doctors are or that the statistics are on his side. That’s what they would say about his mom. And yet she still passed away leaving Kurt with a hole in his heart that his dad has always done his best to fill. Kurt doesn’t want that hole getting any bigger

“I- I- I’m going to the bathroom,” he chokes out.

He runs down the hallway and pushes the door open hearing it bang against the door stop. It shuts behind him with a click. He’s alone. He can find and lets himself cry. His eyes are like a water fountain and stomach hurts so bad he can hardly stand. He grabs the edges of the sink so he can keep himself standing. If he sits down he won’t be able to get himself back up.

The bathroom door swings open. A minute of alone time just wasn’t enough. It really wasn’t. Kurt brings himself to look over to the entrance and sees there’s a boy standing right in it. He can see the panic in Kurt’s eyes as he stares at him. All Kurt wants now is to crawl in a hole because the last thing he wants to do cry in front of a total stranger.

Only the stranger rushes over and throws his arm around Kurt, telling him, “You can cry.”

Kurt grabs onto him and balls into his shoulder. The boy holds him and doesn’t let go. He stays and lets Kurt douse his shirt in tears. All the boy does is holds him. It’s only when Kurt calms down and starts to pull away he lets go

“Sorry. I’m kind of a hot mess.”

“It's alright,” He assures me, “I can handle hot messes.”

“I’m that bad?”

“Well he mean you’re the one that said it.”

“I guess,” Kurt wipes his eyes and takes a deep breath, “I should probably get back to my stepmom. I don’t want to leave her alone for too long She’s also a hot mess.”

“Well if you need anything and I’m in room 219. Second floor obviously because of the 2, but I want to make sure you know that. If I’m not there, I’ll be back later.”

“O- Okay.”

“Well I’m gonna do my… um, business... Feel better.”

“Thank you,” Kurt says

“Yeah no problem.”

Kurt leaves the bathroom and walks back to where his Carole’s waiting. Despite the circumstances he can’t help but smile he little bit because of that boy. He was just so sweet. But the smile doesn’t last long because Carole’s crying. His stepbrother’s got his arm around her comforting her best he can. He throws Kurt a half-hearted dirty look. Kurt assumes it’s  for leaving her alone. He’s obviously resisting from grilling Kurt for it because it’s _his_ dad whose life’s on the line.

Kurt sit down next to them and they wait for hours. Kurt keeps the steady pattern of looking from the clock to the floor. He can’t bring himself to do any sort of stimulating activity besides twiddle his thumbs. He feels like going on his phone would be a disservice to his dad. Burt always hated when Kurt would pick his phone over having a conversation with him.

Finally at 4 ½ a doctor comes to greet them and tell them news. Kurts heart is pounding anxiously at the idea of bad news. The possibilities feel endless at this point. Might as well rip the bandaid off.

“He’s doing alright. He has a mild to severe concussion, a fracture in his right elbow, a few broken ribs and a punctured spleen. He’s in the ICU right now. The only problem is that we don’t know when he’ll wake up. It could be in a few hours or a day or a week or a month. We just don’t know. With a concussion it’s hard to tell, so we’ll check back when the anesthetics should have worn out.”

“What if he doesn’t wake up?”

God does Kurt wish he’d bit his tongue. It’s a question that he did and also didn’t want an answer to. If his dad doesn’t wake up he’ll be left with no one. His dad could never be replaced.

“Let’s figure that out if it comes to that point. I honestly don’t think it’s that severe. I think at most it’ll be a few days, but I can’t give you any guarantees.”

“Thank you,” Carole says.

“You can go into the ICU one at a time. We just want to monitor him for a day to make sure that nothing goes wrong, but then he’ll be brought to a regular room.

“Okay.”

  


The ICU is just as depressing as Kurt remembers it. Once upon a time 7 year old Kurt would see his mom in here from time to time. She’d be in and out until one day it just happened. Kurt passes by all these people who are hooked up to so many different machines. Some even act as their lungs. It’s a morbid sight.

Kurt sits down next to his dad. He’s not hooked up to one of those crazy machines. He’s just knocked out with a few bruises and cuts on his face that are probably from his car's windshield. He’s hooked up to a heart monitor. He’s got a cast on his right arm, and he’s so pale. Even Paler than Kurt is.

Kurt feels himself start to choke up at the sight of his dad. He could always imagine something bad happening like this, but never thought that it would come to fruition. It’s so much different being in the situation than just thinking about the possibility. Everything went into slow motion for Kurt.

“Hey dad. You probably can’t hear me, but… god this is so weird. I’m talking to you even though you can’t respond. I must sound schizophrenic right now. When I got here I was just balling. I ran to the bathroom and there was this guy there. He was so nice to me and he didn’t even know me. He looked familiar, but I had never had a conversation with him. It was a nice surprise coming from a stranger. It also helped to make the wait more bearable... I hope you wake up. Carole- you know like my real Carole, is gone and… I can’t… I can’t lose you. I just can’t.”

Kurt can feel himself start to breakdown inside. Things were bad enough with his dad in the picture with all the torment he got at school for just being himself and having a stepbrother who is completely numb to his feelings. It’s hard for Kurt to manage.

He sits there for a while longer trying to find things to tell his dad in case he can listen. Kurt’s read about some coma patients who woke up know every detail of what their friends and family would tell them. Kurt wants to think his dad would be the same way. It’s a comforting idea.

Kurt doesn’t want to, but he leaves about 15 minutes later because he knows Carole wants to see him. He doesn’t want to be too selfish. He says “I love you.” to his dad and makes his way out of the ICU and back to the waiting room. When he gets back his step brother and Carole are anxiously waiting for him.

“How is he?” Carole rushes to asks.

“He’s fine. He looks a lot better  compared to all the other people in there. I think he’s gonna be okay. But you should go see him for yourself.”

She rushes off leaving Kurt to be alone with his step brother

“You okay?” Finn asks.

“Do you actually mean that Finn? Or is it just a courtesy thing?”

“Sorry for asking. Jeese.”

Finn sinks down into his chair and crosses his arms.

“No. You don’t have a right to play the victim card. It wouldn’t kill you to not give me a dirty look when my father- my _fucking father_ is in surgery! Sur- ger- y.”

“She was out here balling and you just left her! How was I supposed to feel?”

“Did you ever think that maybe I needed to be alone for five seconds? I already lost one parent. I don’t want to lose another. So when Carole gets into a car accident let me know if you want to be alone for a few minutes!”

Kurt gets up and start to walk away from him

“Where are you going?”

“To get some coffee because some of us have been up for over 18 hours and aren’t planning on sleeping anytime soon.”

He storms off and instead of getting coffee he goes right to the parking lot and gets into his car. He pulls back the seat til it’s flat and stares up at the ceiling. God Kurt hates Finn. He doesn’t know when to shut up and just be.

Kurt pulls out his phone just to get away from the world only to see a few texts from Blaine asking where hes been all night. At least someone wants to make sure that he’s okay. He could use someone to talk to right now. He knows it’s 4:13  and Blaine has school tomorrow, but maybe he’s awake for some reason. Kurt would like to think he is.

It rings a few times before Blaine answers.

“Kurt, hi,” He sounds sleepy.

“Sorry did I wake you up?”

“Uh, Yeah” Kurt can hear him shuffle around in the background “Yeah, but it’s… it’s cool. What’s up are you okay? I was kinda worried about you.”

“I’m alright. Well I’m actually not… My dad was in a car accident. It happened around 11 when he was coming back from the airport and he was his by a drunk driver.”

“Is he gonna be okay?”

“Yeah he’s in the ICU right now, but he’ll be in a normal room tomorrow. They just want to monitor him for a while and make sure that he’s alright. Normal doctor stuff.”

“Well that… that doesn’t sound terrible. How… how are you doing? Are you okay?”

Kurt can hear something jingle in the background.

“What are you doing right now? You keep trailing of.”

“Getting dressed.”

“Why? I thought you were sleeping?”

“Well I just thought… That I would come and hang out with you for a while. Get your mind off… things.”

“You have school in the morning.”

“Well one; it’s the four in the morning, so it is technically the morning and two; he can always try this thing called skipping. It’s fascinating, I know. And three; despite the fact you say you’re alright, I know you Kurt.”

“But, won’t your dad be upset?”

“Him? He’ll be fine. I’ll… handle it. I just want to make sure that you are okay, so that I can be okay. You know it’s like, who are you stuck with in there right now?”

“Finn.”

“That’s what he thought. I will be there in ten minutes. Where are you? In the waiting room?”

“In my car, in the parking lot. Can you get me coffee?”

“I will be there in now 15 minutes with two coffees.”

“You are the sunshine of my life.”

“That’s why I’ll always stay around.”

“Don’t turn this into a Stevie wonder song.”

“Hey you started it,” he laughs, “Nonfat Mocha? It’ll have to be from McDonalds since no coffee shops are wild enough to stay open past 10”

“Yes please”

Okay, got it. See you in a bit!”

“See you in a bit.”

Kurt hangs up the phone and is left with a small grin on his face. Blaine always knows how to make Kurt feel better and Kurt love that about him.

But when he’s gone he feels the feeling of hopelessness sink back in until he's drowning in all of the “what ifs” that this situation has brought onto him.

_Fifteen more minutes until you’ll talk to him again and your mind will be allowed to go elsewhere. Fifteen more minutes until you’ll be able to breath again_

Fifteen minutes was however a lifetime of silently crying into the headrest of his car until he get a knock on the passenger's seat window. There’s Blaine on the other side of it waving and smiling. he pop the door open and he does the rest.

“Wow isn’t this just like a little motel,” He says, “You got your seat all leaned back. All you need is a T.V.”

He sets his coffee in one of the cupholders and his in the other. he sit up and let the back of his seat come up with me.

“Thank you for this,” he tells him.

“Of course,” he says, “What are friends for?”

“Being your personal butler apparently.”

“Come on, he was happy to do it,” he says nudging Kurt with his elbow, “So how are you doing with all of this?”

“Honestly? Kinda terrible. Once we hung up the phone I just kinda lost it again.”

“I should have just stayed on the phone with you. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. It’s okay.”

“It’s not.”

“Blaine, It’s okay.”

“It’s not, but it’s over and done with. What did the doctors say?”

“They don’t know when he’s going to wake up. It’s scary to be honest. I mean he said a couple of days but-” he chokes on the word. “I’m just terrified.”

“Hey, hey, hey. It's going to be alright! And I’m going to be there every step of the way. Day and night.”

Blaine pulls him in for a hug and Kurt clings to him. He’s happy to have someone like Blaine in his life. He doesn’t know what he’d do without him


	2. Chapter 2

Blaine didn’t leave the hospital for a while. Blaine knew Kurt needed him right now more than anything and he wanted to be there for him through all of the good and the bad. 

Kurt and Blaine had moved from the car to the hospital where they’ve been sitting for awhile. Despite the coffee run that Blaine made, Kurt ended up passing out and his head landed on Blaine’s shoulder. Blaine didn’t have the heart to move it. Kurt needs his rest and all. 

Blaine doesn’t understand why Kurt refuses to go home. As he was nodding off, Blaine offered to give him a ride so he could sleep in his actual bed rather than on a more than uncomfortable chair, but Kurt refused stating he “had to be here.” Blaine assumed that Kurt just looked at his dad so much differently than how Blaine looked at his. Blaines never even met Kurt’s parents and he’s been friends with Kurt for a year now. They’ve always just kept their friendship separate from their family life. Or maybe it’s just Blaine who's wanted to keep it separate. God, Blaine doesn’t want Kurt to meet his family. Just the image makes Blaine sick to his stomach.

Blaine’s sleeve starts to feel a bit soggy. He looks over to Kurt whose drool is running out of his mouth like a firehose. He’s such a dork. But he’s kinda Blaine’s dork-

Blaine stop himself from thinking that because he's not allowed to let himself think like that. Kurt’s a friend and that’s it. He has to be. Who knows how people would respond if Kurt was more than that. 

Blaine lets out a deep breath and closes his eyes for a second. He doesn’t want to lose his composure over his own problems. He needs to be focused on Kurt and only Kurt. That’s what he woke up to do

Blaine opens his eyes and quickly notices a boy staring at him. He had shaggy blond hair and pale skin. When the boy noticed Blaines eyes on him he quickly disappeared behind the wall he was leaning out from.

Baine’s adam’s apple bobs as he swallows hard. Blaine can feel his body start to tense up. Blaine doesn’t want people staring at him and assuming things about him. It’s terrifying. 

“Hi, have we met?”

Blaine was so far off in his own thoughts that he didn’t even realize there was a women standing right in front of him. Blaine could only assume this was Kurt’s stepmom. Her eyes were red and she looked exhausted. Blaine couldn’t even imagine what she was going through. 

“Uh no we haven’t. I’m sorry my mind was elsewhere. I’m Blaine. I’m one of Kurt’s friends.”

She smiles warmly at him. “I’m Carole. It’s nice to meet you, Blaine. I didn’t realize Kurt had a friend. He’s never mentioned anyone.”

“Yeah I guess I’ve never come over to your house before. Maybe that would explain why”

“Once this blows over you should. We would love to have you over for dinner.”

“I’m flattered. Really. I would love that.” 

Blaine’s eyes dart back the wall that boy was standing behind. He’s not there anymore. Blaine sighs in relief after assuming the boy isn't coming back

Blaine can feel Kurt start to pick his head up off his shoulder. Blaine looks to him and sees his bright blue eyes start to flutter open. 

“Hey Carole,” He says sleepily. He looks around, “Where’s Finn?”

“He went back home to get some rest.”

Blaine can feel his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulls it out and looks down at it. It’s his mom calling him.

“I have to take this excuse me.”

Blaine gets up and walks to a quieter part of the hospital. Sadly it was where that boy was standing. Blaine sighs to get his sighs all out before dealing with whatever his mother will have to say, then picks it up.

“Hello?”

“Where the hell are you?!”

It was an expected response to Blaine’s very early outing if he can even call it that. He didn’t even think to let her know he was going. He was just so focused on Kurt and what he was going through that he had lost his brain for a second.

“I’m at the hospital, but I’m not hurt if that’s what you’re thinking. My friends dad got into an accident and he just needed someone to be there for him.”

She sighs in relief. “Next time you do that please leave me a note. Listen Blaine, I need you home right now. You’re brother is going insane without you. He’s refusing to go to school unless you drive him and I can’t find his cap with the- the rose on it that you got him. He’s just throwing a tantrum and I- I need you’re help. You know what the doctor said about consistency-”

“I- I know, Mom. I’m gonna leave right now. I just have to say a quick goodbye to Kurt, okay? I’ll be there in ten. Just shove him in front of the T.V. and look and see if he put his cap behind the cereal boxes. He takes it off whenever he needs to reach something taller than him so he can see better.”

“Okay, thank you, Honey.”

“Of course. I’ll be home in 10. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Blaine shoves his phone in his pocket, bows his head for a moment and looks around. He sees that damn boy again staring at him before disappearing into the next hallway. Blaine stops himself from chasing him down and asking why he’s so interested in Blaine’s affairs, but he doesn’t have time to. So he runs back to where Kurt's sitting. The guilt starts to rise up to his throat. He doesn’t want to leave, but his brother. God, his brother always needs him. Sometimes Blaine wishes he didn’t always have to be there every step of the way. He knows it’s not his job but yet he has to keep in mind that no one else is going to do anything about it. He has to step up to the plate. He assumed he’d be used to the feeling, but he isn’t. He hates that he isn’t

“Hey what’s up? Everything okay?”

“I have to leave, Kurt. J- Just for an hour at most. I know I said I wouldn’t have to leave, and I’m really sorry-

Kurt frowns a little and it kills Blaine inside. The guilt starts to grow and grow until Blaine feels like he’s choking on it

“It’s okay. I can find a way to survive for an hour,” Kurt says, “Really.”

“I really am sorry. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Blaine runs off to his car and attempts to dig his keys out of his pocket as fast as possible. They drop between the driver's seat and the main console. He sighs and digs for them until He can finally grab them by pinching them between his fingers. He’s jumbling his keys around trying to grab the right one, until finally he stops himself. The keys dangle on his index finger

_ Calm down. Everything's fine. Just breathe. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I just wanted to say thank you to the few people who have been commenting and who have left Kudos on my work. It really goes a long way and it helps keep me motivated to push chapters out as soon as I feel they're ready. It makes me happy to see people enjoying something that I've had a lot of fun writing so far. Thanks again :)

Kurt romes the second floor in hopes of coming across room 219 where he’ll be able to find the mysterious boy that he had run into in the bathroom. The boy with shaggy blond hair and big brown eyes. Kurt could use the distraction. Time only passes so fast when you’re non-stop looking at the clock. 

Blaine’s not here to take his mind of his dad anymore, either. He can’t fault Blaine for leaving, but he’s sad that he had to see Blaine go. He knows it wasn’t Blaine’s decision to make. Kurt’s more mad at the person who took Blaine from him today. He needed him. 

With one turn of a corner he finds it. The doors wide open and Kurt sees him sitting on the bed reading  _ Mice of Men  _ in a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. Not Kurt’s first outfit option, but he can live. He can hear the boy faintly whisper the words he’s reading. Kurt finds it kind of… adorable.

Kurt knocks on the doorframe and the boy quickly looks up and smiles at him this warm smile that makes Kurt feel like he made this guys day..

“You came,” He says shutting his book.

“It would be rude of me to just dismiss your invitation. Besides I think I owe you and thank you.” Kurt explains “So thank you.”

“Anytime.”

“By the way I never caught your name-”

“Evan.”

“I’m Kurt.”

“Nice to meet you, Kurt” Evan pats a spot on the bed next to him, “Come sit and stay for a while. Unless you can’t.”

“I don’t see why I couldn’t.”

Kurt walks into the fluorescent lit room and sits down next to Evan. Kurt notices that his room is fairly packed. There's a backpack full of his stuff along with many balloons that are halfway to the ground and bouquets of flowers that look like they're on their way to dying.

“Someone's popular,” Kurt says thumbing one of the flower petals.

“I guess. All my friends along with their parents brought all this stuff over a few weeks ago. That’s why everything's so sad-looking.”

“Well you might want to at least such the helium out of those balloons before they hit the ground. Might as well have a little fun in this depressing place.”

“Speaking of this depressing place, why are you at the hospital?”

_ Well he’s one to cut to the chase of things _

Kurt wasn’t necessarily surprised by the question. It had to be asked sooner or later, but the last thing he felt like doing was explaining it a second time. It’s like he’s being asked to relive the moment by someone he doesn’t even know. Despite his hesitance he answers 

“My dad got into a really bad car accident and he hasn’t woken up yet. They’re taking him out of the ICU in an hour if his vital signs stay normal, which they are as far as I know. And they don’t exactly know when he’s going to wake up.”

“I’m sorry about that, Kurt. That must be really hard on you.”

Kurt wanted to believe what he was saying. Something about his tone seemed disingenuous. He sounded like a kid whose parents were forcing them to say “thank you.” Honestly, it was off putting. But Kurt didn’t want to assume Evan was like this all the time. Maybe he was just having an off day. Kurt knows he is.

“So what about you? why a-”

“Who was that guy you were with?”

Both sentences were said at the time. Kurt cleared his throat. 

“Which guy?”

“Dark curly hair, kinda tan, big eyes.”

“Blaine. That’s my friend Blaine.”

“Friend?”

“Yeah. Just a friend.”

Evan looks down and smiles to himself.

“Sorry for interrupting you by the way, but to answer your question I’m in remission for a lung transplant. If you ask me I’ve overstayed my welcome here for about a week and a half. My Mom's a doctor here and my Dad’s a Surgeon. Usually they’re pretty logical about what patients need the boot, but I guess that changes when it’s their own son.”

“How long you been stuck here?”

“A few weeks. I started staying here a week before my surgery so my parents could keep a close eye on me. Then I’ve been stuck here for another two weeks. They’re finally going to let me leave in a couple days.”

“Well at least they love you enough to make sure you’re gonna be okay.”

“Yeah I guess I’m lucky. It’s not too bad around here though. The only thing that sucks is that I have to do homework.”

“Is that what  _ Mice of Men  _ is for?”

“No actually.” 

Kurt raises an eyebrow at him. 

“Well… kinda. My teacher wants us to do a project on a book we’ve never read. I chose  _ Mice of Men _ so I’m not being forced to read it. I voluntarily picked it.”

“Impressive. I read that book last year. Not because I wanted to. It was for class. I actually thought it was really interesting and tragic of course, but I don’t want to spoil anything for you. A few tears were shed though.”

Evan laughs a little. “I’ve always been really interested in history and this is supposed to be a very accurate portrayal of the Great Depression and the social stigmas at the time; autism being the main focus. So far I’m really enjoying it. The beginning was a bit slow though.”

“I think all older books have really slow beginnings. But they tend to really pick up speed as the story goes o-.”

“Can I have your number?”

Kurt could feel himself blush. He’s never been asked for his number before. Well, Blaine had asked him for his number last year, but that’s because they were doing a project on the anatomy of the human body. Kurt had actually been approached by Blaine who nervously asked him to be partners. It made Kurt special as if he wasn’t as much of an outcast as he originally thought he was.

“For what purpose?” Kurt asks. 

“More than friends purposes.”

  
  
  


Blaine gets home and walks through the entryway only to his brother sat on the floor in front of the T.V. with his pink cap with the rose on his tiny noggin. His Mom’s sitting behind him on the couch sipping coffee awaiting Blaine’s arrival. His dad of course is nowhere to be found.

His mom bursts up from the couch at the sight of Blaine“Oh thank god you’re home, Honey. He just won’t reason with me at all.”

“Well what do you expect, Mom?”

“I don’t know. It’s like we send him to Dr.Rolands every week and every week he still acts the same. There’s just no wiggle room with the kid.”

“Maybe you should invest your money in a behavioral aid. I can’t always be here to watch him and make sure he’s well behaved. I have my own things to do.”

“Well too bad. We’re a family and family helps each other.”

“Oh yeah? Well where’s dad.”

She doesn’t say anything back. All she can do is look down at the floor because she has no clue where Frank could be. He could be in at the local bar or he could be on the other side of the world and she wouldn’t know the difference because he’s never there. He’s always off doing who knows what with who knows who. He’s somewhere else.

“That’s what I thought,” Blaine walks over to his brother and crouches down next to him, “Hey James we gotta take you to school, little man.”

“It’s past 8:20. When the clock passes 8:20 that means I get to stay home.”

“I know it’s past 8:20, but you can’t miss a day of school.”

“How come you’re not at school then? You’re free period ended a half an hour ago which means you aren’t at school when you’re supposed to be.”

Blaine sighs, but remains calm. “I am going to school today. I was just running a bit late.”

“If you’re going to school then where’s your backpack? You need a backpack to go to school.”

Blaine lets out a deep sigh. This just isn’t the right day for this. “James, can you just help me out today and grab your stuff? If you go to school then I bet Mom will you to go get frozen yogurt.” Blaine looks at his mom who nods yes to him, “Doesn’t that sound good?”

“But I want you to take me.”

“I know you do, but I’ve gotta help a friend today.”

Blaine thought their conversation was going decently from how James usually handles situations that cause him to adapt. That is until James suddenly explodes.

“No! No! This isn’t fair!” James says screeching through his teeth. His fingers start to bind together like they always do when he’s extremely upset. His elbows go up and down. One of his anger tics, “First you want me to go to school after 8:20 and even if I go you aren’t going to take me to get frozen yogurt?! You always take me! I don’t want to go with Mom! I want to go with you!”

James’ breaths get get shorter and shorter until he’s practically hyperventilating. Blaine tries his best not to cringe at the sight. It’s hard for him to witness even though he sees the exact same behavior daily.

Blaine reaches out to grab James’ hands softly,. “Hey, hey, hey, just take some deep breaths buddy, alright?” 

James listens. He breathes in and out and in and out. Blaine sees he’s been working on calming down. He’s able to do it faster each time. 

“Listen, buddy, I know that we always get frozen yogurt together, I know, but sometimes things will just pop up in someone's schedule that they weren’t expecting to be there. It’s just a part of life. So for today, Mom is going to take you. But you and I have all weekend to go again.”

“If I go with mom, how many toppings do I get?”

“Two”

“Four”

“Three”

“Okay deal.”

Blaine allows himself to relax. He shouldn’t have to fight him every single day on things that are so frivolous, but he doesn’t have a choice. His mom isn’t going to do it and his dad definitely isn’t going to do it. He picks up James and wrests him on his hip, then walks upstairs to James room and sets James down.

“Okay, now get your shoes on and grab your bag.”

James does just that. He gets his shoes on and grabs his backpack and puts on the straps. He looks to Blaine for some sort of approval that he did everything right.

“Good job, James.”

“Okay.”

Blaine crouches down to his level. “Remember to try and make eye contact when you talk to people.” James looks up at him with his big hazel eyes that match Blaine's, “Okay better. And when someone gives you a compliment, what do you say?”

“Um, you say… You say thank you?”

“Yep. You don’t say okay. You say thank you.”

James repeats the word quietly to himself to remember, then looks to Blaine. “Thank you for saying that I did a good job.”

“You’re welcome,” Blaine smiles, “Now come on. Let’s get you to school.”

Blaine picks James back up and after saying a quick goodbye to his mom brings him to the car. He straps James in the car seat he’s now forced to house in the back of his car. He drives James to school and helps him out of his car seat, then walks him into the school.

Blaine signs him in at the front office. The women at the desk smiles at James and says hi. James says hi back and looks her in the eye.

“Mr.Anderson.”

Blaine looks up from the paper he’s signing and sees the principle of the school, Ms.Huchen.

“Yes?”

“After you’re done signing James in, could I see you for a moment?”

Last time a family member of his was brought into the office it was to tell them that James needed to leave the school for bad behavior. He hopes she won’t say the same. This is the best school in the state for kids like him. Blaine took a morning study hall just so he was able to drive him here. He can’t get kicked he just can’t 

“Y- yes, of course.”

Blaine finishes signing James in then gives him a hug goodbye and watches him walk himself to the classroom. Blaine turns back to Ms.Huchen who is gesturing to him to follow her. Blaine follows her into her office and sits down across from her desk. 

“I know you and your mom have really worried about James’ behavior here at the school, so I just wanted to let you know that he has been such a positive addition. He has a few friends now and he’s doing very well with his homework. I know last year was a bit of a struggle with mainstreaming him, so I thought you would want to know.”

“T- That’s great. You had me worried for a second. Last time someone from our family was asked to come into an office, James got expelled, so that’s such a refreshing thing to hear.”

“Good. Well that’s all I wanted to tell you so you’re free to leave.”

“Thank you so much. We’re really glad this is working out.”

“We are too. We realize how much of a challenge it can be to have a child this syndrome so we just want to let every family know about the progress the kids make.”

“I really appreciate you telling me. I’ll be sure to let my mom know. Thanks again.”

“No problem.”

Blaine leaves the school feeling ten pounds lighter. A weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. This is the first school who has actually been happy that James is a part of their community. It makes it seem like all the work Blaine has put into James is paying off.

  
  


It’s been a full day since Kurt first saw his father after the accident. Blaine’s been in and out of the hospital to support Kurt; talking to him about whatever was going on at school or bringing him coffee. Caroles been coming by whenever she doesn’t have work and Finn has been completely a-wall since the night he went back home to go and get some rest.. The farthest Kurt has been able to get away from the hospital was to go to the nearest gas station. Hospital food really wasn’t cutting it for him. It made the situation feel more and more real. Kurt still wanted to believe it was a dream or a distant memory. People made him momentarily forget the reality of his situation, but when he said goodbye his thoughts consumed him to the point where he felt like he couldn’t breathe. Doesn’t he have the right to breathe? All the people in this shitty town who are complete jackasses get to. Even Karofsky gets his fair share of oxygen. Kurt doesn’t. He’s been short on breath ever since he started high school. In light of recent events it’s become even scarcer. 

Kurt buys a few candy bars and a bottled water before leaving with the bell hanging from the doorway jingling behind him. There's nothing more he loves than chocolate when he's sad. He starts to head right for his car when he’s stopped by someone, a girl, calling his name. He looks to the left of him to where the noise seemed to be coming from. 

Quinn Fabray is standing in the alleyway with what looks to be a cigarette in hand waving her hand at him. 

He’s not exactly surprised to find her in a dumpy alley alone with her good friend tobacco to keep her company. She’s an absolute mess to say the least. At least she appears to be. Kurt doesn’t want to judge her, but it’s hard for him not to since her string of bad decisions has led her to what should barely be considered a sufficient lifestyle. At the same time when you fall, you really  _ fall _ . It hurts and it takes so much work to climb yourself of that hole. Especially when there's no one else there to grab your hand at the end of it and pull you back up. Quinn is the perfect example of that.

Quinn Fabray is the queen of downwards spirals. After popping out Noah Puckerman's kid as a junior and giving it up for adoption she quit the cheerios, dyed her hair pink, bought some grunge clothing, and took up smoking, drugs and alcoholism to dull her pain. Apparently she’s dating a 40 year old skateboarder too. 

Kurt walks down the alleyway and stops before she’s too close for comfort. She looks him up and down and takes a puff of her cigarette. She blows it in the other directions of Kurt, then crosses her arms.

“Thank you for having the courtesy not to blow that in my face.”

“What are friends for?” She shrugs.

“I didn’t realize we were friends. I’m pretty sure we’ve never even spoken to each other. The only time you’ve even acknowledged my existence was when you would sit idly by with Santana and Brittany as Puckerman, Karofsky and their little posy were shoving me into lockers and trash cans on a daily basis. I don’t think that’s what a friend would necessarily do”

She twists her lip around and drops her cigarette onto the ground, stomping it out with her boot. “Listen Kurt; despite my past selves horrible actions I heard about what happened with your dad and-”

“Of course you have. Everyone at Mckinley probably has with how big of a mouth Finn and his girlfriend have.”

“Let me finish. I’m not here to ask you how you’re doing before skipping off into the sunset and never speaking to you again. I just… I get what it’s like for people to do that kinda thing. It makes you feel like crap about yourself. Like the only attention you deserve from people is when something goes horribly wrong in your life and they want to pretend that they’re trying to make you feel better by asking you how you’re doing when really they’re just trying to finish some subconscious obligation to make themselves feel better about all the crap they dish out daily. It sucks to be their chore.”

Kurt crosses his arms and raises his eyebrows at her. “What’s your point?”

“My point is I like you, Kurt. You’re a little too squeaky clean for my taste, but I like you. So come hang out with me Saturday for a girls night.”

“I want to stay at the hospital with my dad.”

“Being at the hospital isn’t going to make your dad wake up any faster. It’s just one night away from all of the depressing crap you’re having to deal with. We could even go to  _ Scandals _ . The gay bar. It’s going to be great and I’m not going to take no for an answer. In fact I’m not going to even  _ let  _ you answer. I’ll pick you up at eight and we’ll have a great night. It’ll be just the two of us and maybe more if we meet some friends along the way. I’ll get you an I.D. and everything. All you have to do is get dressed up.”

He rolls his eyes and sighs. While drinking in his eyes is something that he’s always wanted to stay away from along with Quinn, he could use the distraction. Days start to feel like weeks when you’re anxiously awaiting something that you aren’t even sure is going to happen. Time needs to go back to normal again. 

“Fine.”

“Great!”

“But I’m only going for an hour.”

“Good enough for me. And wear a pair of black skinny jeans while you’re at it. You could use a little edge.”

“Could I now?”

“Couldn’t hurt. In fact,” Quinn hooks her arm around Kurt’s and drags him back up the alley, “let’s go shopping right now. Get you a new look. Don’t you agree that makeovers can really make a person feel better. And you desperately need the distraction.”

“Don’t you have school? It’s noon.”

“Haven’t you heard of skipping class?.”

“I can’t believe I’m going along with this,” Kurt says under his breath.

“Neither can I.”


	4. Chapter 4

 

Kurt got pulled into his driveway around 6 with a shopping bag full of clothing items that were forced upon him by Quinn along with feet that were very sore from walking for countless hours, despite the Lima mall being so small. Oddly there was another car that wasn’t one of his. In fact it looked just like… He locked his car and walked up to his doorstep only to find a passed out Blaine up against the house paneling. He’s got a tupperware container in his hands that’s holding an entire cheesecake. For some reason he took off the light brown jacket he’s in almost all the time and is rocking a wife-beater tank-top despite the fact that it’s October and 45 degrees out. He can hear Blaine faintly snore.

_ Someone must’ve had a long day _

Kurt twists his lip as he tries to think of what to do with this curly-headed menace. He can’t help but smile though. He’s kinda cute when he sleeps… 

No, no, no. Kurt can’t think that. Why would he even think that? It’s Blaine. Dorky old Blaine. Not gay Blaine. Well at least as far as Kurt knows. Last year Blaine went to prom with a girl, and Sadie Hawkins… Oh and Homecoming. Who’d he go with again? Santana, right? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that he would not like to ruin a friendship over thinking like  _ that _ . God knows a silly thought like that had more than the potential to.

Kurt softly kicks the bottom of Blaine’s shoes. Blaine starts to grown a little a shift his feet slightly. Kurt kicks him again with a bit more force and Blaine’s eyes start to flutter open. 

Blaine rubs his eyes until they’re finally open and looking up at Kurt.

“Someone needed their beauty rest,” Kurt chuckles

Blaine picks himself off the ground and smooths down his tan slim pants before looking Kurt up and down. “I did. I’ve haven’t been able to sleep the past couple nights because  _ someone  _ woke me up the one,” Blaine teases, “And the other… Well I don’t know. You know my brain just never shuts up. When I think about something I just- I really  _ think  _ about it. And I don’t stop until I’ve either solved whatever it is my brain won’t stop wrestling or my thoughts become to incoherent and I conk out.”

“Conk out?”

“You know, like pass out.”

“Ah.” Kurt nods bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Well two minds can be more powerful than one. I’d that they always are, but I don’t think people like Stoner Brett would be much help.”

“Stoner Brett. Isn’t he just a magical human being?”

“Very much so. But what I’m trying to say is I’m a good listener.”

“It’s no big deal. Really. Enough about me. What’d you get at the mall?”

Kurt can see Blaine’s changing the subject. He’s never done that before. Kurt’s also never asked him about his problems too. Come to think of it, Kurt knows absolutely nothing about Blaine’s personal life other than the fact that Blaine doesn’t like his dad much. He’s never mentioned anything that crosses the line into personal land. It’s intriguing to say the least.

“This is going to sound silly, but I ran into Quinn at the gas station and…” Blaine nods along as Kurt speaks. It makes Kurt smile. He’s actually listening. The only person who he ever noticed did that was his dad. He had never seen that Blaine had the same rare quality. 

“And?”

“Oh, sorry. I spaced out for a second there. She invited me to hang out with her Saturday night and I think I’m going to go?”

It comes out sounding more like he’s asking for Blaine’s approval than anything else

“Is that so? And what are you kids going to do?”

“She wants to go to  _ Scandals _ . You know the gay bar?”

“Oh.”

Only that “oh” sounds incredibly unenthusiastic in Kurt’s ears. Almost like Blaine was trying to change the tone of his voice, but the sound just shot out of him anyways. Well looks like Blaine  _ does  _ disapprove

“What’s so bad about  _ Scandals _ ?”

“Nothing!” Blaine blurted, “Nothing. It just doesn’t seem like your style.”

Kurt didn’t know if Blaine was lying or not. Usually he was more discerning.

“Yeah it really doesn’t,” Kurt chuckled, “I just thought I could use the distraction, you know?”

“I understand. Just don’t be stupid is all.”

“I’ll try not to.”

Kurt’s hand reaches for the door handle and he lets it hang there. “Do you want to come in? I’m not going to be able to eat that cake by myself.”

“I’d love too.” Blaine says with a smile

Kurt turns the handle and starts to push open his front door until stops and looks to Blaine, his eyebrows furrowed.

“How do you know where I live?”

“I texted Rachel. I would have just texted you, but I thought I’d come and surprise you. I went to the hospital and you weren’t there so this was my last guess.”

“You spent your money on a cake, drove all the way to the hospital, then all the way back here?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“That’s really sweet of you.”

Blaine bows his head and shakes it back and forth every so slightly. He lets out a soft laugh. “The things I do for you, Kurt.”

Blaine looks back up at Kurt who’s biting his lip and looking Blaine up and down before he notices Blaine’s eyes watching him. Kurt can feel his face turn red hot.

Blaine doesn’t want to draw attention to Kurt ogling him, so he plays dumb.

“So inside?” He asks

“Yeah!” Kurt rushes to say, “Inside.”

Blaine follows Kurt inside. He takes off his shoes and follows Kurt through his living room to the kitchen. The only lights that have remained on are the ones above the bar connected to the black granite counter.

Kurt drops his bags and skates across the kitchen, past the island until he reaches the silverware drawer. He picks out two forks, walks back over and hands one to Blaine who’s now seated on one of their bar stools. 

Blaine pops open the tupperware container and throws the top to the side. 

Kurt’s quick to dig into it with his fork

“You know,” He says with his mouth full, “You really didn’t have to do this.”

“I wanted to. You’re pretty special to me, Kurt.”

“How so?”

Blaine lets himself think for a moment 

“You really one of the only friends I’ve made here that I genuinely like, and you’re not afraid to be who you are. I admire and envy that quality.”

Kurt nods “Mmm so what is it that Blaine Anderson’s hiding?”

“I can’t give you my rap sheet.” Blaine chuckles nervously

“You could tell me something…”

“But that would take away all the mystery. You have to leave people wanting more.”

“You also have to keep them intrigued. And I have to say you’ve done a poor job of that.”

“Says the one who keeps prying.”

Kurt frowns at him. “Come on just one thing! How about why you moved here last year.”

Blaine ponders for a second before speaking. He trusts Kurt. He really does. But he’s also trusted others who have really let him down. “I had told someone something about me. Something… personal. I thought I could trust that individual. Next thing I know I was getting shoved into lockers daily because they told the whole entire school what I had said. And I could handle the slight physical abuse that came a couple times a day. But then the school dance came. I had gone with a friend of mine, the only friend I had left. Her name was Scarlett. She tried to make it as normal as possible for me and admittedly I was having a lot of fun. But when the end of the night rolled around I got a phone call from my mom, so I had to step outside. I was on the phone for about thirty seconds before things took a turn for the absolute worst.” Blaine looked down at the counter, then back up at Kurt. “I’d rather not talk about it any further. It’s not a topic I like to get into.”

Kurt’s mouth was slightly ajar. He didn’t know what to expect when he asked for answers. He just wanted know  _ something. Anything. _ But  _ that _ … what Blaine said… He just wasn’t expecting the subject matter to be so careful and emotional. Kurt thought it would have a simple answer. People usually pack up and move because of a new job or because they want to be closer to family. He was expecting the topic to be so scarring in Blaine’s eyes. And it’s not like it was that difficult for Kurt to somewhat connect the dots on the situation. All he’d have to do was look to the next step of violence past getting shoved a few times a day. The only thing that remained unsaid was how far the people who wanted to hurt Blaine went. 

“I- I’m sorry for asking you that. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut. But for what it’s worth I’m really sorry that happened to you.”

Kurt reached for Blaine's hand. He could tell that the touch startled him with a small jump of his body, but he didn’t recoil at the feeling. Kurt liked to look at it as progress to maybe Blaine opening up more. Usually it didn’t take this long for people. It’s been a whole year since they met. But Blaine… he’s just so  _ guarded _ . And all Kurt has felt he’s done is put a small dent in a wall rather than breaking one down. He wished Blaine would let him break one down.

“It’s okay, Kurt. But what I’m trying to say is that day stopped me from ever wanting to be so open and free like you are. You’re so strong, Kurt. It’s unbelievable how strong you are. And I just think that’s amazing. I think  _ you’re  _ amazing. I-”

The words sounded breathless coming out out of his mouth because all he could think about in that moment is kissing him. God how Blaine wanted to kiss him. He couldn’t. He just couldn’t. He couldn’t have repeat of what happened that day. It would be selfish. And right now he wasn’t allowed to be selfish. Not with James and his mom. But god did he want to.

Kurt just stared at him wide-eyed. Blaine assumed he wasn’t expecting that to be said of him, but every single word he said was true. Kurt was so different from every other person he had ever met. He had such a refreshing personality and such a refreshing outlook on life. He was the posterboy for perseverance.

Blaine bows his head and lets out a nervous chuckle “Sorry if I went a little overboard there.” he says, “I just never want you to sell yourself short.”

“Thank you. It means a lot to hear you say that.”

Blaine’s left with a soft smile on his face for the rest of the night. When he leaves he gives Kurt a hug goodbye and tells him he’ll maybe see him tomorrow. 

  
  
  
  
  


Kurt goes to the hospital the next morning to go see his dad again. His cuts and bruises have began to fade and he’s hooked up to less machinery than he was when Kurt had seen him in the ICU, but it was still just as depressing. 

Kurt felt more and more empty as the days had passed. He knew that more days passing without his dad waking up meant that there was less of a chance than he would one day. The few days that the doctor said it would take had come and gone. Kurt was on day four now without hearing Burt’s voice or seeing him smile. Right now he felt like Burt was a shell of himself and Kurt found himself becoming that too.

People were helping to keep him afloat though. Blaine was being more than helpful along with Quinn and Evan who he had been texting a few times a day. Finn hadn’t said one word to him since they got into a fight in the waiting room, and Carole’s been trying her best to be a support system, but she’s too emotional to be there every step of the way. Kurt appreciated her trying and he more than understands what she’s going through. She can’t be present for him.

It’s Saturday, so Kurt will get a chance to escape for awhile tonight. He can’t just sit at home and sulk around the house anymore. He needs to do something,  _ anything,  _ to think about any other subject other than this.  _ Scandals  _ would be it

While they were shopping the other day, Quinn practically begged Kurt to invite Evan. According to her Kurt could use a boyfriend and he doesn’t  _ hate  _ the idea of having a bit of arm candy to flaunt around. It made him smile.

Eventually it came time where Kurt had to go. Quinn insisted on coming over an hour early to pick out Kurt’s outfit even though he insisted he was more than capable of doing it himself. Who knows fashion better than Kurt Hummel? No one.

He collects his things and begins to walk out of his dad’s room. He turns around and takes one last look.

“I love you, Dad.”

The words echo around him as he leaves the hospital and heads home. It’s haunting that he’ll never know if he’ll ever get a response back. All he wanted to happen was for Burt to clap him on the shoulder, look him straight in the eye and say, “I love you too, Kiddo,” like he always does.

When he gets home Finn and Rachel are the only ones there. He can tell from the pair of shoes that looked like they were from  _ Toys R Us  _ and the bigfoot sneakers right next to them. Carole doesn’t get home from work until late as always. As he walks upstairs he can hear their muffled voices through Finn’s bedroom door before disappearing into his own. He can’t help, but wonder what they’re talking about. More specifically if it relates to Burt. 

He waves it off though and waits for Quinn to arrive. She does and surprisingly a few minutes early. Looks like she really does want to be on Kurt’s good side after all. 

“Kurt, you better wear those black jeans I got you. They hug you in all the right places…” She wiggles her eyebrows

“God will you shut up, Quinn! You’ve already got me going to a sleazy bar. Now you want me to  _ be  _ sleazy there too?”

“You know I’m right.”

Kurt rolls his eyes. “I feel like you’re trying to recruit me to join your clan of tobacco addicts. First  _ Scandals _ , then the jeans? What’s next. Want me to inject heroin?”

“Have you ever even tried a cigarette? They’re pretty great.”

“Are you crazy? That’s like volunteering to get cancer.”

“Just  _ try it _ , Hummel” 

She reaches into the left pocket of her bag, grabs a pack of cigarettes and pulls one out extending her hand to Kurt. She dangles it in his face - back and forth - he takes it out of her hand. 

“You know that it’s a destresser,” She says, “A few of these under the bleachers and I feel like I can take on the world.”

She pulls another one out and puts it to her lip, lighting it with one flick of her lighter. She inhales it and lets it flow out of her mouth once she cant taste the nicotine anymore.

“Now you.”

Kurt bites his lip. This feels stupid - extremely stupid - but he doesn’t feel he has anything to lose at this point. The only person he’s really got left is Blaine. But Blaine’s just a highschool friend. After their senior year he’ll be out of Kurt’s life in a blink of an eye. And his dad - well things aren’t looking good for his dad now are they.

Kurt grabs the lighter from Quinn’s hands. He hits the sparkwheel a few times before a flame emerges. His heart's pounding at he lights the cigarette that’s held tightly between his lips. He lets go of the sparkwheel and watches as the flame goes out so suddenly. He inhales as he feels the smoke enter his mouth. 

_ Can’t go back now.  _

He coughs the smoke out of his mouth until it’s completely out of his throat

Quinn has an absolute ball watching him. She’s laughing so hard at this point that now she’s hysterical. 

The smoke was starting to fill his room. He walked across the floor of his room to his window pane. With a few turns of the knob it was fully open. Now the smoke had somewhere to go.

Kurt stood by the window and took another puff of his cigarette.

_ You’re not afraid to be who you are. I admire and envy that quality. _

Blaine’s words echoed in Kurt’s head as he took another puff of his cigarette. Maybe he didn’t want to be himself anymore - It didn’t work. Maybe he wanted to be someone else for a change.

  
  


Blaine picked up the plates and set four of them neatly on the table along with a napkin, and a set of silverware. The number four seemed so wrong to him. There should be three. They all know that there would be no fourth person arriving at dinner tonight. His mom was always one for pretending. 

“Sweetheart, can you go get your father?”

Blaine stopped in his tracks. 

_ No. No no no no no _

“Blaine?”

He could feel the anger start to surge through his veins with every breath he heard his mother take just  _ waiting  _ for him to cave. 

“He can drive himself. He has a car.”

“Blaine.”

God it’s just so fucking petty of her to hold this over his head as if he was supposed to feel  _ sorry  _ for his father’s inability to consider someone other than himself. It wasn’t Blaine’s job to parent his parents, so why was she constantly making him?

He storms off taking his keys with him. He can hear his mother shouting for him as he walks. He just chooses not to listen because he’s heard it all before. 

_ “I just want to have a normal family dinner, Blaine. Don’t you want that too?” _

Of course he wants that, but he knows for a fact he’s not going to get that. The only reason he bothers with his dad anymore is for James. If Blaine can’t have a dad than maybe James can. But let’s just face it, his dad doesn’t want to father two mistakes, the gay one and the autistic one. Blaine hates using the word autistic, but it’s the only thing he could think of. It’s the truth.

  
  
  


Kurt and Quinn burst out of his house arm and arm as they walk to Evan’s car and  _ damn  _ it’s a nice car. Kurt couldn’t be trusted to fix a nice car by his dad at the shop, much less drive one.

Evan’s leaning up against his car with a small smirk on his face looking Kurt up and down.

“You look  _ hot. _ ”

Hot. That’s an adjective that no one has ever used to describe him before. But it was one he liked hearing very  _ very  _ much. 

Quinn elbows in his ribcage him telling him to say something - anything - make it sound witty and cocky.

“I know,” Kurt says effortlessly. 

He’s surprised at how easy that was. Not once has he had the confidence that Quinn Fabray and a pair of tight, black skinny jeans have now blessed him with. He could get used to this - the new and improved him.

Evan chuckles and opens the car door for Kurt and gestures to it.

“Wow  _ such  _ a gentlemen.” 

“For you I’ll be, He says, “I’ll be anything you want.”

Kurt can feel himself blush and his stomach twist into knots. It didn’t feel like he was here, but that he was watching from a distance. At the beginning of this week if someone had told him he would be going to a gay bar with a guy who would sit and flirt with him he’d laugh in their face. This would never happen to Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, but yet it is. Right here, right now, Kurt’s on a high that he doesn’t want to even imagine getting off of. It’s freeing. So for the night he was throwing away his conscience.  

“Kurt, you want a cigarette?” Quinn offers from the backseat.

In a way, her asking felt like a test. This was what it would come down to - this is his right of passage into Quinn’s domain. After this Kurt knew that there was no going back for him. This was the gate to skankdom. Such a large decision symbolized by something as stupid as some shitty rolled up tobacco. 

“Kurt?”

“Y- Yeah. Yeah I’ll have one.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

  
  


Blaine wandered aimlessly around Lima not knowing where the road would take him. All he knew was he didn’t want to be there anymore.

It was dark and the streets were practically empty with the occasional car driving by him. It had been raining for the past hour, but he found himself not caring. Drenched or not, at least he was alone with his own thoughts. But he knew that could be a dangerous game if he wasn’t in the right mindset.

He walked for an hour until he made it to the other side of Lima. He took a turn to go through the neighborhood he was most familiar with. Most of the houses had their lights off. Every so often he would see a T.V on through someone's front yard window. Still he felt like the whole town was sleeping and he was the only one awake.

As he reached the end of the neighborhood he began to hear footsteps coming up behind him splashing in the puddles that had formed on the street. They came closer and closer. He could hear his name being called, but he just kept walking. It became louder.

Someone grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

“Blaine!” sigh, “Blaine, will you just turn the fuck around? You’re being so extra right now and it’s annoying.”

He knew that voice. He found solace in that voice.

He turned around slowly and stared at her. Her expression transitioned from anger to concern after seeing his face.

“Are you crying? What’s wrong?”

He grasped onto her and let himself ball into her shoulder. She put her hand around his head and held it close to her.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Just breathe.”

“I don’t know what to do anymore, San,” He says into her shoulder, “It’s useless.”

“We’ll figure it out. Let’s just head back to my house. You’re soaking wet, and why the fuck are you in a wife beater? It’s October and pouring.”

Blaine chuckles through the tears and shrugs. “You know me.”

“It’s like you’re a child, now come on.”

She grabs Blaine’s hand and brings him back to her house. It’s pretty big for a rambler. Most of the walls are painted a light yellow color. Mrs.Lopez said it was because no matter what the weather was it would always feel like her little bit of sunshine in dreary old Ohio.

Blaine stays standing in the middle of her living room after being told that he would be cut for sitting on the couch in wet clothes. 

Santana comes back out from the hallway with a pair of her dad's sweatpants and a t-shirt for Blaine along with a towel. 

“You should try a car next time it’s pouring. It would save me quite a bit of effort.”

“I’ll kick it around,” Blaine smirks

She throws everything to him and tells him that she does not feel like seeing him strip in her living room. He nods and walks down the hall. It’s covered in pictures of Santana and her parents smiling like a normal family. He couldn’t stop his brain from comparing his and hers. They were so  _ different _ . His was so broken. Hers was so whole.

He continues to the bathroom and changes. He dries his sopping wet curls with a towel the best he can. He drapes his wet clothes over her bathtub and walks back to the living room. Santana has sunken into the couch channel surfing. When she sees Blaine she promptly turns it off and sits up.

“So what happened tonight? Something with your dad? Or was it James?”

“My mom made me go pick my dad up from  _ Duffy's _ , you know the local bar?”

She nods

“He was hammered and he refused to get into the car, so I took his keys out of his pocket to make sure he wouldn’t drive himself home eventually. He also keeps a pair of spare keys under the hood of his car and I took those before I walked in. Then I told the bartender that if he gave my dad one more drink I’d call the cops on him for over-serving. That caused my dad to leave the bar and go running to his car to grab the keys I took earlier. I drove him back home and it was dead silent. At dinner it was my mom and James talking while my dad and I just stared at our plates. I just can’t do anything about it.”

“Yeah like you’ve said before if you call social services James gets put into foster care and who knows where he’d end up.”

“Autistic kids just don’t get adopted. If so it’s rare. And he’s already 7 which doesn’t help his chances. I know he’ll always be safe with my mom, but I’m running out of steam, San. I’m so tired of not being able to be the least bit selfish. It’s killing me.”

“Is this about Lady Hummel?”

“Yes and No. It’s about the fact that I’m practically raising my brother and if I came out here and what happened happens again I don’t know what would happen. I already see how Kurt gets slammed into lockers every single day at school. My body… my head… If I get slammed into a locker, It would be bad.”

“I love you have such a great excuse for being in the closet, yet I don’t. I think I need a tragic backstory.”

He smiles and puts his arm around Santana, pulling her in close. “Trust me. You don’t want one.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment with any feedback :) I'm all ears!


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